'Did you go to Elwyn Edwards's funeral?', I asked of a retired Glyndŵr district council officer. 'No' came the reply. 'No, although I did think about it just to make sure he was actually dead'. Such agonising bad taste clearly illustrates that Elwyn Edwards was very much like mustard: depending upon your view, he either spiced things up and enhanced things... or he left a feeling that you were burnt. And it shows that he wasn't afraid to stand up to officers for the people.
Elwyn Edwards was both a Glyndŵr district and a Denbighshire county councillor. He was a past chairman of Glyndŵr and was Denbighshire's chairman in 1999/2000 and subsequently its first leader, from 2000 to 2002. He was succeeded by Cllr Eryl Williams. The two of them had a deep rivalry and sometimes this spilled over into the public arena. One such occasion was when, during the floods of 2000, Edwards and Williams both tried to outdo the other in helping victims and this resulted in some impious & unseemly behaviour. At that time, Edwards had a point in that it was he who was one of the town's representatives, not Williams.
Edwards was also deeply disliked by a slice of Glyndŵr officers and those at its successor, Denbighshire. He was the only Glyndŵr chairman ever, for example, to result in NALGO (the then staff union) making a direct complaint about his appointment (not that they could do anything). Primary sources say that he would look over the shoulders of local government planners and intervene directly in planning decisions, whether his conclusions were right or wrong, fair or not, within policy of outside of it. Mind you, that sort of practice—indeed, that sort of power—was far more commonplace back then but, these days, it's against the code of ethics. As leader of Denbighshire, he wielded considerable power, including interfering in trivial matters such as demanding the removal of noise baffle boards between officers' desks.
In the 2004 elections, Edwards received the top most votes, securing his continuation at county council where he'd been from the very start. In 2008, he slipped to fourth place, behind David Smith, Bobby Feeley and Morfudd Jones. As such, since Rhuthun/Ruthin returned three county councillors, Edwards lost his seat... but only by 26 votes. This was in spite of an impressive CV, experience and some considerable achievements. It does, however, illustrate the fact that he polarised opinion—some liked him and others didn't. Crestfallen, it was at this point that he retired from council politics and he did not stand in 2012.
Edwards nevertheless continued to be a person locally of some influence. His style remained adversarial. In the Free Press, current county councillor Huw Hilditch-Roberts said, 'We enjoyed many a run-in on Rhuthun issues since I became a councillor...'. Edwards continued to be involved in a number of schemes, projects and improvements, most notably as the force and energy behind the planning for, building and management of Llanfwrog's community centre and pitches at Lôn Fawr, a project he saw right through. The building opened in 2008. He was a director of the community interest company at the time managing the centre.
Returning to thoughts of mustard, for all Edwards's fierceness and fireiness, he stood up for people in Rhuthun and resolved their problems. He was best on your side and, if he was, there was very little your opponents could do about it. If he wasn't on your side, you may as well have packed up.
Edwards was also deeply disliked by a slice of Glyndŵr officers and those at its successor, Denbighshire. He was the only Glyndŵr chairman ever, for example, to result in NALGO (the then staff union) making a direct complaint about his appointment (not that they could do anything). Primary sources say that he would look over the shoulders of local government planners and intervene directly in planning decisions, whether his conclusions were right or wrong, fair or not, within policy of outside of it. Mind you, that sort of practice—indeed, that sort of power—was far more commonplace back then but, these days, it's against the code of ethics. As leader of Denbighshire, he wielded considerable power, including interfering in trivial matters such as demanding the removal of noise baffle boards between officers' desks.
In the 2004 elections, Edwards received the top most votes, securing his continuation at county council where he'd been from the very start. In 2008, he slipped to fourth place, behind David Smith, Bobby Feeley and Morfudd Jones. As such, since Rhuthun/Ruthin returned three county councillors, Edwards lost his seat... but only by 26 votes. This was in spite of an impressive CV, experience and some considerable achievements. It does, however, illustrate the fact that he polarised opinion—some liked him and others didn't. Crestfallen, it was at this point that he retired from council politics and he did not stand in 2012.
Edwards's 2008 election manifesto was impressive in its content. It began, 'Ladies and Gentlemen, once again I have been asked by a number of Ruthin people to offer myself as a candidate for the forthcoming election'
Edwards nevertheless continued to be a person locally of some influence. His style remained adversarial. In the Free Press, current county councillor Huw Hilditch-Roberts said, 'We enjoyed many a run-in on Rhuthun issues since I became a councillor...'. Edwards continued to be involved in a number of schemes, projects and improvements, most notably as the force and energy behind the planning for, building and management of Llanfwrog's community centre and pitches at Lôn Fawr, a project he saw right through. The building opened in 2008. He was a director of the community interest company at the time managing the centre.
Returning to thoughts of mustard, for all Edwards's fierceness and fireiness, he stood up for people in Rhuthun and resolved their problems. He was best on your side and, if he was, there was very little your opponents could do about it. If he wasn't on your side, you may as well have packed up.